Sister Wives’ Janelle Says Brown Family Was Always Heading Toward Downfall but Kody ‘Didn’t Want to Admit It’

During Friday’s ‘Sister Wives Look Back’ special, Meri Brown also said she believed “a combination of things” led to the Brown family’s demise

Kody brown Janelle Brown
(L-R) Kody Brown and Janelle Brown on TLC’s ‘Sister Wives’. Photo: TLC

Janelle Brown could see the end of her once-happy polygamous coming from a mile away.

As the Brown family looked back on where things went wrong during Friday’s Sister Wives Talk Back episode, the reality star responded to a fan questioning why her now-ex-husband Kody Brown is still “so angry when it seems like he’s getting what he wanted,” being a life of monogamy with his only-remaining wife Robyn Brown.

“I will say, there was a lot of time that what Kody really wanted was this big, unified family,” said Janelle, 54. “When we all came together, we decided to have the children treat each other like brothers and sisters. So that was a huge goal of his for many, many, many years.”

From Janelle’s perspective, “part of [Kody’s] anger” stemmed from his dream of a big happy family “dissolving.”

“I think maybe this is where we were headed,” she continued. “He just didn’t want to admit it because he was starting to say things like, ‘I’m tired of shouldering the work here,’ ‘I’m tired of being the one who carries these relationships.'”

Although the Browns had been facing hardship for years, it was Christine Brown’s departure that truly shook things up. Janelle and Meri Brown also ended their marriages with Kody, resulting in the 54-year-old now maintaining a monogamous relationship with Robyn, 45.

Brown Family, Sister Wives
The entire Brown family from TLC’s ‘Sister Wives’. Puddle Monkey Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Trying to pinpoint what went wrong, Meri said during Friday’s episode that there’s “been a lot of speculation” around that topic.

“Was it bringing Robyn into the family? Was it going public? Was it moving to Las Vegas? You know, all these things that it could have been,” said Meri, 52. “I do not agree it was any one thing. I think it was a combination of things and also that we kind of quit wanting to work together as a family.”

“Look, we had our problems. There’s a big dynamic when you have those personalities, but we worked very hard together for the sake of the children,” Janelle said separately.

Meri later noted that she believes “polygamy can work” and it “did work” in the first few years of their family. Addressing his stance on the matter, Kody said, “Polygamy has just been something that I failed so badly at that I don’t really think that I believe in polygamy for me.”

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Sister Wives is now streaming on Max.

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